Median Earnings by Major and Subject Area

The economic value of a bachelor’s degree varies by college major. New data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that median earnings run from $29,000 for counseling-psychology majors to $120,000 for petroleum-engineering majors. Even when majors are looked at by groups, such as business or health, there is variation in pay depending on the specific major.

Source: "What’s It Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors" from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce Note: The data come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 American Community Survey and consider full-time, full-year workers ages 25 to 64 whose highest degree is a bachelor’s. Some majors are not included because the sample size was too small to calculate a median income.